NCIBA MISSION STATEMENT

Promoting the vitality, diversity and prosperity of independent bookselling as essential to the life of our communities and crucial to the dissemination of ideas in our society.

The NCIBA in Pictures

Debut author Neal Griffin and Book Passage bookseller-turned memoirist Melissa Cistaro were two of the 19 authors meeting and greeting 90 booksellers at the recent NCIBA spring Gathering.

Our “new” logo for the 2015 California Bookstore Day. Same cute bear, same first Saturday in May.

Ridley Pearson is IN for California Bookstore Day!

Book of the Year award winner Gene Luen Yang is IN! for California Bookstore Day.

Isabel Allende poses with a California Bookstore Day book bag at Pegasus Books in Berkeley.

Gallery Bookshop owner Christie Olson Day is pictured with the NCIBA plaque announcing her store as this year’s winner of the Outstanding Community Bookstore in Northern California.

Thaisa Frank reading from her new book Enchantment at Mrs. Dalloway’s in Berkeley.

Michael Ondaatje visited the NCIBA office in December to chat with booksellers and sign pre-ordered copies of The Cat’s Table.

Penguin sales reps Lindsay Wood (left) and Wendy Pearl hosted Sebastian Barry for a book signing and meet-and-greet to promote his new book On Caanan’s Side at the NCIBA offices in late September.

The NCIBA office recently hosted a signing and meet-and-greet with Grace Bonney, author of Design*Sponge at Home.

The NCIBA office was delighted to host a meet-and-greet with booksellers and Suzanne Collins, who personalized more than 200 copies of Mockingjay right before the holiday selling season. Photo by Carol Seajay.

Before his Thursday lunch appearance at the NCIBA Trade Show, Michael Cunningham sat down at the NCIBA booth and signed 400 copies of By Nightfall that had been pre-ordered by stores. Photo by Calvin Crosby.

Independent Bookstore Day is a National Hit!

If bookseller feedback is any indication (hint - you bet it is), Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) is a keeper. As California stores did last year, independent bookstores across the country experienced significant sales increases over the year prior, and everyone seemed to have a good time. At least two dozen stores emailed NCIBA that they had exceeded their prior year’s first-Saturday-in-May sales within three hours of opening, and the “we surpassed” messages kept coming all day long. And while sales of special items produced exclusively for IBD were mixed, it didn’t make much of a dent in booksellers’ overall enthusiasm, and a post-event survey found that 98% of this year’s participants would sign up for 2016.

In our state, first responders reported sales largely comparable to last year. Those that were down were also quick to note that sales far exceeded a usual Saturday - one bookseller said that they had not reached last year’s 100% gain but that sales on CBD were still 80% above normal. And some stores actually exceeded the sales from CBD 2014, including Danville’s Rakestraw Books that saw a 41% gain - wow.

A nice display of IBD items at Changing Hands in Phoenix, AZ.

Additionally, IBD generated extraordinary electronic, print, and social media attention across the country, from national press to local hometown newspapers. An online conversation the week prior even led to Bookstore Day trending on Twitter. And of course, indie bookstores touted the celebration in their newsletters and on their websites, both of which drove customers to their stores on the big day.

Hut’s Place Selling Books for Bookstores

The goal of the weekly Hut’s Place column is to alert book lovers to new arrivals (both hardcover and paperback) and bestselling books in independent bookstores and motivate them to buy more. Recent feedback seems to indicate it’s working:

“Please add me to your mailing list for Hut’s Place; your newsletter fills a real need. Ever since the Washington Post discontinued its Book World, I’ve been missing regular reading recommendations. And Hut’s Place looks lively, interesting and the brevity is helpful as well.”

“Your column has helped me discover books that I have subsequently purchased at my local independent bookstore. Some books I've given as gifts and some are for myself. I just picked up The Rosie Project today. I’ve shared the column with many people and will send along to some others. You are providing a great service to book lovers.”

“I love your column. It sends me scrambling down to my local independent book store, Book Passage, to buy yet more books. It also has me passing your recommendations to my several book groups. Thank you.”

“Hut’s Place is a hit with me. I love the format and I trust your recommendations and always buy Indie if I can.”

“Since joining the mailing list for Hut’s Place, I’ve purchased a number of great books based on Hut’s recommendations; in fact I go to the site every time I need a new book.”

“Just wanted to send a shout out to Hut for giving me good ideas every week in my quest for good books... now that, as a former librarian, I no longer have the luxury of being in the know when it comes to books.”

Alemeddine, Solnit, Barnett Among NCIBA Book of the Year Award Winners

Here are the 2015 NCIBA Book of the Year winners, as voted on by booksellers from NCIBA member stores. Winning books were chosen in 8 categories, including three featuring children’s titles, and a full color poster featuring the victors was distributed to stores.

The finalists in each category are listed below, with winners highlighted in red:

NCIBA Webmaster Co-Authors Book

Our long-time webmaster Jay Cornell has co-authored (with R.U. Sirius) Transcendence: The Disinformation Encyclopedia of Transhumanism and the Singularity, now available from Red Wheel/Weiser. It’s an entertaining and informative look at the international movement that advocates the use of science and technology to overcome the “natural” limitations experienced by humanity. Visit the book website to watch the book trailer and learn more.